“ The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”
John 1:9
Greetings from sunny Tijuana. This Christmas as in years past, our neighborhood is brightly lit with Christmas lights, but unfortunately the true “Light of Lights”, Christ the Savior has no place in many Mexican homes. Starting with the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12th and continuing until Christmas, many people in Mexico have “posadas”. They dress up as Biblical figures, with a Mary and a Joseph, and walk the dark streets holding candles, knocking on doors looking for someone to offer them a place to stay. Each night they find an open door with a party waiting, but the sad truth in their lives is that they themselves have never opened the door of their hearts to Christ. They are still wandering in spiritual darkness.
The celebrations continue until January 6th, “Día de los Reyes” (Day of the Kings) When they celebrate the arrival of the Magi to present gifts to the Christ child. They gather with family and friends to eat a “Rosca” (Sweet bread in the shape of a crown) which has small plastic dolls baked inside. The person who finds the “baby” in his piece of bread gets to help host the next celebration, in February. In the past, families traditionally exchanged gifts on January 6th and not on Christmas. Children wait anxiously to see what the “kings” brought them. Like many homes in North America, the focus becomes the gifts and not Jesus. There are however, people in Tijuana who like the wise men of old are searching for a light to guide them to the true King of Kings.
In this past year we have had the privilege of seeing many step out of the darkness and into Christ’s light. It is exciting to see the men, women, and children from the “Agua Viva” Mission grow in their new faith. We had a special worship service on Sunday, December 23 to celebrate Christmas. There were special musical presentations from the children, the youth, and the ladies. The children also had a dramatic presentation of the Christmas Story in the form of a slide show with pictures of the children dressed in Biblical costumes acting out the story. It was put to music with narration from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Afterward, we had a pot luck dinner with lots of great food and fellowship.
We continue to reach out to the community with evangelistic films, the ladies Bible Study, children’s classes, and Wednesday night Bible study where we are studying the Gospel of John to help the people discover who Jesus really is. We are looking forward to holding regular Sunday services in the near future.
We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and we wish you a blessed new year. Our family is doing well and we are enjoying a visit from Daniel and Scott’s parents.
We thank you for your partnership with us as we reflect His light in Tijuana.
In His service,
Scott and Marcia Geurink
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